TURIN — Spanish govt Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos shall be Alfa Romeo’s new design chief, sources stated, because the troubled model heads for a turnaround below its new proprietor, Stellantis.
Mesonero will be a part of Alfa’s design group primarily based in Turin in July, folks accustomed to the matter instructed Automotive Information Europe.
Mesonero, 53, will change Daniele Calonaci, who will proceed to guide Jeep design for Stellantis in Europe.
Stellantis was shaped in January by the merger of Fiat Chrysler Cars and PSA Group.
Mesonero give up as design boss at Renault’s Dacia budget brand earlier this month after simply six months within the publish. He had been recruited to Renault by CEO Luca de Meo. He had labored below de Meo at Seat, Volkswagen Group’s Spanish model.
Mesonero’s appointment to Alfa was first reported by Auto & Design journal.
A Stellantis spokesman declined to touch upon the appointment to ANE.
Mesonero strengthens the highest administration group that new Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato is placing collectively to attempt to reverse the declining fortunes of the sporty premium model.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has tasked Imparato, who had a profitable run as Peugeot CEO, with reviving Alfa Romeo sales and developing new joint models for the Alfa, DS and Lancia manufacturers.
Mesonero joins Alfa with two new fashions already permitted for manufacturing: the Tonale compact crossover, whose launch has been delayed to early 2022 by Imparato, and a small crossover due a yr later to be known as the Brennero.
This implies the primary Alfas designed by Mesonero aren’t prone to seem till mid-2023.
Alfa’s product lineup has shrunk to simply two fashions, the Stelvio midsize crossover and Giulia midsize sedan, and its car gross sales have slumped in its two largest markets, Europe and the U.S.
The model has not launched annual international gross sales figures, however the FIM-CISL Italian union says manufacturing of the Stelvio, Giulia and the Giulietta sedan, which was discontinued in late 2020, fell 9 % to 53,422 items final yr.
In Europe, Alfa’s car gross sales final yr declined by a 3rd to 35,503 items, of which 17,332 have been Stelvios and 10,747 have been Giulias, in keeping with JATO Dynamics. Within the U.S., Alfa’s gross sales elevated 1.6 % to 18,586 items final yr, in keeping with knowledge from the Automotive Information Knowledge Heart.
Mesonero began his profession in 1994 when he joined Seat’s design division, the place his brother, Carlos, had been working since 1985. He moved to Renault in 2001 to guide the design of the Laguna coupe. From 2009 to 2011 he directed design at Renault Samsung Motors in South Korea. He returned to Seat as design director in 2011.
Throughout his second stint at Seat, the introduction of a collection of profitable crossovers, the Ateca, Arona and Tarraco, helped to make Seat worthwhile after years of losses.
Mesonero designed the fifth-generation Ibiza small automotive and the newest two generations of the Leon household of compact fashions, and in addition formed fashions such because the Formentor and Tavascan as stand-alone fashions for Seat’s efficiency model Cupra.
For his work at Seat and Cupra, Mesonero received the Automotive News Europe Eurostar Award for Design of A number of Fashions in 2018.